Practical Church

How can we connect better with non-believers?

Welcome to welcome to episode 150 of Practical Church Planting.

All of us desire to reach and connect with those who don't yet know Jesus. However, some of that disconnect comes from when we do things that non-believers do not understand. So in this episode, we discuss these five things you can do to make your services more understandable to non-believers:

• Avoid phrases like "we all know"
• Christianese is not your friend
• Tell people where they can find the Biblical text you are preaching from
• Assume your closest non-believing friend is there
• Tell people where to go for next steps

Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or our YouTube Channel.

Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

What we wish we knew then.

Welcome to welcome to episode 149 of Practical Church Planting.

In this episode, we discuss these three things that Dylan wished he understood better before planting a church:

• It takes years to build trust and relationships
• Newness will create excitement for a while but vision is needed to sustain it
• You can't rush preaching development

What we wish we knew then.

Welcome to welcome to episode 149 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.

In this episode, we discuss these three things that Dylan wished he understood better before planting a church:

• It takes years to build trust and relationships
• Newness will create excitement for a while but vision is needed to sustain it
• You can't rush preaching development

Connect and never miss an episode.

Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or our YouTube Channel.

Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

How a lot of money was raised in not a lot of time.

Welcome to welcome to episode 148 of Practical Church Planting.

Recently at New City Church (where we lead), we raised $117,515 in financial commitments in three weeks towards our move into a new building. That's a lot of money given the size of our church. So in this episode, we discuss these four thoughts on how it happened:

• People need to know there is a need
• People need to feel the need
• Shorter time frames are often better than longer ones
• We were honest about what was at stake

Connect and never miss an episode.

Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or our YouTube Channel.

Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

What should you do when you don't know what to do?

Welcome to welcome to episode 147 of Practical Church Planting.

We all face times when we have to make a decision but we aren't sure what to do. How should we respond in these moments? In this episode, we share these four thoughts on what to do:

• Pray for wisdom well before you need it
• Allow others to speak into the process, then listen
• Is your primary motivation God-honoring?
• Make a decision

Connect and never miss an episode.

Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or our YouTube Channel.

Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

We all make mistakes. Often similar ones.

Welcome to welcome to episode 146 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.

No one plants a church with all of the answers. We all face similar difficulties and challenges which means we are likely to make similar mistakes. In this episode we share these four common mistakes church planters make to help you on your journey:

• Holding on too tightly to future plans
• Not being clear enough about finances
• Hesitancy in making decisions
• Focusing on what you want to do over what you can do

Connect and never miss an episode.

Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or our YouTube Channel.

Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

You don't need everything, but you do need somethings on launch day.

Welcome to welcome to episode 145 of Practical Church Planting.

You don't have to have everything figured out on launch day, but you do need to have some things in place on day one. In this episode, we share these five very important things all churches should have on launch day:

• Sermon recordings
• Website/social media
• Serve team assimilation
• First-time guest follow up
• Online giving/giving processes

Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here's where you can subscribe:

• Apple Podcasts
• Google Play
• Spotify
• Stitcher

Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

You don't have to have everything figured out on day one.

Welcome to welcome to episode 144 of Practical Church Planting.

There is a lot of pressure to have everything figured out for your church on launch day. While there are certainly many good things we should have in place, we don't have to have everything figured out. In this episode we share these five things that won't kill your church if you don't have on day one:

• First year preaching calendar planned
• Membership process all figured out
• Small group assimilation
• Full band every week
• Leadership pipeline

Connect and never miss an episode.

Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or our YouTube Channel.

Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

Some reflections on preaching through one book in a year.

Welcome to welcome to episode 144 of Practical Church Planting.

This year we did something different at New City Church and spent most of the year preaching through one book of the Bible (1 Corinthians). Here are four thoughts on how it went:

• I (Dylan) learned a lot
• Our people saw the relevance of Scripture
• Our people learned the importance of context
• Our people came hoping to learn what Scripture means and how to apply it

Connect and never miss an episode.

Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or our YouTube Channel.

Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

Preaching to a small crowd can be tough. Here are some tips.

Welcome to welcome to episode 142 of Practical Church Planting.

All of us have or will be in a situation where we will preach to a small crowd. This is especially true as you work to gather a launch team and start a new church. Because of that, we share these five tips for preaching to small crowds:

• People don't think it's as small as you
• Pretend there are more people
• Don't apologize for or reference numbers
• Avoid the temptation not to "preach"
• Lack of response doesn't mean lack of engagement

Connect and never miss an episode.

Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or our YouTube Channel.

Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

We need church plants in the South.

Welcome to welcome to episode 141 of Practical Church Planting.

Contrary to what many may assume, the American South actually needs more church plants. In this episode, we discuss these four reasons why:

• A lot of people are moving to the South
• Familiarity with the church ≠ familiarity with the Gospel
• The South is the most churched region of the United States, and our churches need help
• Don't overcomplicate it

Connect and never miss an episode.

Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or our YouTube Channel.

Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.